The Miami Hurricanes are celebrating their football program’s first ever appearance in the College Football Playoffs.
After the committee decided to rank Miami at No. 10, players are celebrating making the final cut, edging out No. 11 Notre Dame for the final spot in the playoffs.
According to head coach Mario Cristobal, players haven’t lost sight of the bigger picture as they look toward a road matchup against No. 7 Texas A&M on Dec. 20.
“You could imagine, they were through the roof with excitement, and then of course, today the, that type of opportunity just drives your excitement, your energy, your urgency to another level when we saw that today so we’ve been back to work and preparing and, again, just ready to get back at it,” said Cristobal. “When I say we’re fired up, it may be the understatement of the year.”
With the playoff field set, the Canes are expecting a hostile environment when they face the Aggies.
“It’s a maniacal scene. Great support, extremely loud, certainly, they do a great job, what can you say, I mean it’s very well documented so, again, preparation has to be at its best,” said Cristobal.
While Miami prepares for the matchup, one of their rivals, who they beat head-to-head in the season opener, Notre Dame, was not happy with being left out of the playoffs.
The school withdrew from bowl consideration after falling just short behind Miami, a move Cristobal was not comfortable addressing.
“I wouldn’t comment on anyone else’s situation because you never know, you never know exactly what’s up and I have too much respect for football and for Notre Dame to comment on their situation. As it relates to us, we haven’t been faced with that situation and we don’t ever expect, want to or would, really, allow that situation to happen,” he said.
You can tune in to see the Canes take on the Aggies in the first round on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 12 p.m. on ABC Miami.